The Zanpakutō Samurai
by Morpheus The Dream Lord
Summary: The samurai of Hi no Kuni, for the last one hundred years, have been using a secret way of fighting. This secret way of fighting has allowed them to overtake their Tetsu no Kuni counterparts as the best samurai nation. This secret way of fighting is such a closely guarded secret that only a select few are ever given the opportunity to learn it. This is the art of the Zanpakutō.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: One thing you will not see in this fic…a respectful Naruto. Naruto, I believe, at his core is a character that is meant to be rude, tactless and kinda stupid in order for him to be the hero that I know and love. I just hate fics where he suddenly addresses a person with their proper title, which doesn't set him apart from the rest, which isn't Naruto-like. Just because he'll train to be a samurai that does not mean that he will suddenly gain respect. He may live by the samurai code, but he will, under no circumstances, be a well-mannered one. I mean have you seen Gintama or am I the only one who has?** _**That was completely rhetorical, by the way.**_

* * *

Chapter One: Different Destiny

 _My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm twelve years old and I love ramen. I am- was- an aspiring shinobi until recent events help shift my focus from being shinobi to being something else._

 _It all went a little something like this.  
I am one of nine Jinchuriki to the most powerful beings on this planet. Now normally that wouldn't be such a bad thing, right? Wrong! Being a Jinchuriki means that you become the most HATED person ever…I am not joking. I have been shunned, ignored, treated unfairly and treated as if I was not even alive all because of the stupid creature sealed in my gut. Now, I didn't know all of this until recently, where I was tricked into stealing an ancient scroll containing secrets that should never see the light of day. _

_The person that tricked me into stealing the scroll was my former teacher, Mizuki (giant asswipe). He played on my hurt feelings over the fact that I had just recently failed for the third time, and he used that to get me to steal the scroll for him. Basically, a long story short- I beat the teme up after learning a technique from the scroll._

 _I dint come out in one piece though that night…the man that I respected and loved a more than almost any other person in the world died from the injuries he sustained trying to protect me. Umino Iruka is without doubt one of the greatest humans ever. I mean, if you could willingly die for someone like me, a no good failure that isn't really destined to amount to anything, then you really are a great person._

 _I miss Iruka-sensei dearly already._

 _Anyway shortly after my debacle with Mizuki I was told that I could no longer go back to the academy because I had struck out three times. Fuck! My dreams had all but been crushed under the boot of 'the man'. There was no way in hell I was ever going to become Hokage now. All of those people that said I wouldn't amount to anything had just been proven right…I am nothing now. I ended up becoming an emotional has been (if something like that is even possible), and a recluse._

 _But this only lasted for a short while…_

 _Jii-chan, the Sandaime Hokage, had called me to his office to tell me that there was a way I could still become something, but I could no longer be a shinobi…wait for it…I could be a Samurai._

 _(Pause)_

" _Who the fuck has ever seen a samurai Hokage?!"_

 _Yeah, admittedly not the best thing I could have ever said at the moment, but hey, I ended up where I'm at right now…wait, I'm jumping too far ahead. Let me go back. So Jii-chan explains to me that I would become a samurai of Hi no Kuni as a whole because I would train under the best samurais in the world, the Gotei Jūsan. Apparently, and this was according to info I had gleaned from that old perverted bastard of a grandfather of mine, the Gotei Jūsan are a bunch of samurai that work for the Fire Lord, ensuring not only his safety, but that of Hi no Kuni as well._

 _They are the most powerful group of samurai; he said something about making those from Tetsu no Kuni look like genin to a jonin or something? Huh? Not sure what he meant, but the more he explained things, the more he sold me over to the idea of possibly taking this opportunity. I was sceptical about taking the option of training as a samurai up until Jii-chan explained to me that the man in charge of the whole organisation was as powerful as he was._

 _WOW!_

 _That's something…if these guys were led by a guy like Jii-chan, who was Hokage, and if this Yama-something guy was as strong as Jii-chan, then this could work for me. Going back to my earlier statement about someone never hearing anything about a samurai Hokage, I decided to make a bold declaration that day, "I'm going to be the first samurai Hokage!"_

 _Anyway, with my moment of bravado over, Jii-chan told me that usually these guys don't take anyone with prior training with the Shinobi Arts, but since I am what I am (a Jinchuriki for those that fell asleep somewhere along the way) I was needed for Hi no Kuni to survive. The old man proceeded to give me a straight up, no bullshit talk about my exact purpose, and that was to serve Konoha. Now since I could not do that as a Shinobi, I am now required to find an alternate means to do so, and that is through being a samurai._

 _Jii-chan also told me that unlike here in Konoha where a lot of people knew of my status, only a select few in the nation's capital knew about this. This meant that I had a huge chance of making friends properly, without being scrutinised or shunned._

 _All of this was a lot to take in at first, because I had not realised what it meant to be a jinchuriki…but eventually I did understand my role to my nation, although not entirely._

 _Jii-chan and I continued talking for a while about what I could expect from this if I took the job, but eventually we finished up and I left to pack my things, because I was leaving first thing in the morning. Something tells me that even if I had said no, I would have still been forced to do this…but hey, at least I wasn't._

 _Anyway, I'm burning the candle on both ends now, I need to get some shut eye before tomorrow's harrowing journey to the capital for the next phase of my life._

 _This is the number one, unpredictable, knuckleheaded shino- samurai, signing off…_

* * *

Hi no Kuni Capital

Three days…three stinking days of nothing but slow, agonising trekking had brought them here. Looking at the entrance to the capital city of Hi no Kuni, Naruto couldn't help but have eyes that were the shape of saucers. This place was _huge_. Everywhere the young boy looked he was greeted by people. He thought that Konoha was bustling, but boy was he wrong.

Looking at the capital, Naruto was able to see that it was made out of a variety of buildings similar to those in Konoha, but also different at the same time. These buildings looked a whole lot more majestic than what he expected from the capital; looking here and there he could see businesses that were booming, with people going in and out of shops and restaurants. Everybody seemed to be busy with something or another.

Naruto spotted two things though that stood out from the rest of the things he had seen so far. The first was a bunch of men wearing red samurai armour walking around the streets…clearly these guys were the protectors of the capital…the samurai. Naruto could see from the way that they walked that they took a lot of pride in what they did; moving around proudly with their chests puffed out slightly and some seemed to be keeping a constant grip on their katana, which was strapped to their left or right hip. It all depended on what hand they used more.

The second thing Naruto saw was a gigantic white castle, standing on its lonesome, at the top of a hill that overshadowed the entire capital.

"…palace of the Daimyo." Naruto heard a voice beside him, and turning to look at the person that had spoken to him, Naruto's sight was met by a man wearing the standard Konoha shinobi uniform, but his seemed to have a face mask connected to the long sleeved shirt he wore underneath. The man also wore a headband Naruto recognised as that of Konoha's shinobi; but the most striking feature of the man was his gravity defying silver hair, which stood up and then lopped off to the side slightly. Naruto remembered that this man who served as his escort to the capital was called…

"Kakashi…what did you say?" Naruto asked since he barely heard the man.

"I said that the place you're looking at is the Daimyo's palace." Kakashi answered in a dry manner, which Naruto seemed to believe was the man's default tone.

"Is that where I'm going, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked excitedly.

There was a pause between the duo as Kakashi let the excitement build a little, before he happily replied, with his eyes closed and his head lolled off to the side, "No…you aren't that important."

Naruto almost hit his face on the floor when he heard Kakashi's reply. Damn that bastard.

"Don't worry though; I hear a lot of samurai are stationed there to guard the first family, so you'll get your chance to go there." Kakashi said in his default tone again.

"First family?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi looked at the blonde shrimp walking next to him with a perplexed look, "Don't tell me you're so stupid that you don't even know the first family?"

Naruto just "hmphed" and folded his arms across his chest while also looking away from the older man.

"Oh my gosh…" Kakashi said in utter disbelief, "you are _that_ stupid."

"Screw you, you- you…" Naruto began, but couldn't find a proper insult for Kakashi, so he just turned and kicked the man on his shin.

"Ow!" Kakashi said, jumping on the spot for a few seconds while saying something about stupid blond shrimps, which of course earned him another kick on his other shin, causing him to jump around some more, but before Naruto even knew what was going on he suddenly found himself upside down with a dark aura cast over him.

"Well that wasn't very nice." Kakashi said in a deathly whisper that spelled nothing but doom for Naruto. He could literally feel the blood in his veins become ice cold…his heart had stopped pumping blood throughout his body. He was going to die!

"Now, how about you apologise?" Naruto heard the man ask, still holding him upside down with one ankle.

"S- s- sorry." Naruto uttered out meekly. He was scared…no, he was terrified. The type of aura Kakashi was exuding made him want to wet his pants. He knew the sun was shining down on the world, but somehow it couldn't reach him. There was complete darkness all around him. He felt his breath hitch up in his throat as he tried to speak a bit louder, believing Kakashi to have not been able to hear his meek apology. He was a notch away from hyperventilating.

But then as soon as the oppressive pressure had come, it was gone, with Naruto falling on his head while Kakashi grabbed his stomach and laughed out _hard_. He laughed so much that Naruto felt like punching him, but he quickly pushed that thought away due to his recent memory of the man nearly making him pee his pants.

"Any who," Kakashi stated a few moments later, "let's continue with our journey, shrimp."

Naruto gained a tick mark on his face and he began chasing Kakashi around the capital, promising him mass amounts of pain. Sometime during the chase Naruto experienced the most embarrassing thing in his entire life. Kakashi led him around the capital for a while, but just when Naruto thought he had the man, Kakashi used the substitution technique to substitute with a fruit stand that Naruto nearly fell into.

While in his daze Naruto neglected his backside, and Kakashi took advantage of it by shoving his fingers into Naruto's sphincter, sending the blonde crashing into the stand in front of him, and making sure that people saw what had happened by doing it in a busy market district.

It was safe to say that once Naruto got up, he was beyond pissed.

* * *

Three hours later

After three hours of chasing each other around the capital, Naruto and Kakashi found themselves at their intended destination. They currently stood outside the premises of a regal looking compound. It had a mixture of ancient Japanese culture mixed with modern day culture. The outer layer of the compound was surrounded by a high wall that was white in almost all its entirety while the top edges of the wall were painted in a golden yellow. The gates that the duo currently stood in front of were golden in colour and shone very brightly. Inside the compound, from where their eyes could see, there seemed to be a large white building that was located at the centre of the compound, with smaller, yet still elegant, buildings lining the sides of the big building.

The big building also had what appeared to be a giant symbol attached onto the front of it. The symbol had an upturned quarter moon at the centre of a pentagram and four stars that were on the inner edges of the pentagram.

"Whoa, what is this place?" Naruto asked, awe and wonder dripping from his voice.

Kakashi was also in awe of this place, but he did not show it. It would be very unlike a shinobi of his calibre. Still though, he answered Naruto's question since he knew exactly what this place was, "This is the Shihōin clan's compound."

"Shihōin clan?" Naruto asked in wonder and confusion.

"Yes, Naruto, Shihōin clan. They are one of the four noble families of the samurai culture. They are kinda like the Uchiha and the Senju in Konoha." Kakashi replied calmly.

"Senju? Uchiha I've heard of, but I've never heard of Senju." Naruto stated in mild perplexity.

Kakashi looked at Naruto like he'd grown a second head when he said that. Kakashi could not believe he was hearing this from someone that wanted to be Hokage, "You idiot! The Shodai and Nidaime Hokage are from the Senju clan. I can't believe you of all people didn't know about them."

"Hey, I take offense to being called that!" Naruto shouted in anger, before he quickly subdued it and folded his arms over his chest and added, "Besides, they never interested me…only Jii-chan and the Yondaime ever did."

Kakashi just slapped himself on his face, before he slid his hand down his face in an act of not truly fathoming how far Naruto's idiocy was. He could not believe that this was the extent of Naruto's intelligence. Maybe he should have-

"Hatake-san, I see you've finally arrived." A female voice said, getting Kakashi to look up in slight surprise at the person speaking.

In front of both him, and his idiot charge, stood a very beautiful dark skinned women that had purple hair that just barely kissed the nape of her neck. She had golden coloured eyes and she wore a black sleeveless shihakusho with matching colour arm warmers that extended from her wrists to her bicep region. She wore a pair of soft padded shoes on her feet and she completed her look with an orange jacket that was unzipped and had white shoulder patches.

The woman had a smirk on her face as she revelled in the short lived surprise that she was able to draw from the legend that was Hatake Kakashi. Being an assassin that was also a samurai allowed her to know the dealings of the shinobi world more than any normal samurai, and the legend of Hatake Kakashi is a legend she had heard for a very long time.

"Cool! You're wearing orange! That must mean you like it as well, huh?" Of course, her short lived 'victory' at surprising a great shinobi like Kakashi was ruined by the shrimp next to him.

The woman cast her golden orbs down on Naruto and smiled, showcasing crystal clean teeth for the boy to see. She noticed that he was decked out in an orange jumpsuit that seemed to be wearing him instead of the other way around. The only thing breaking the orange and blue combo he seemed to have going on were his goggles, which were plastered on his forehead, and were green in colour.

"Shihōin Yoruichi-dono." Kakashi stated, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Hatake Kakashi." Yoruichi said, nodding in Kakashi's direction.

"You know her, Kakashi?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi had not noticed it before, but Naruto did not use any honorifics when talking to him at all. The kid had zero respect what so ever. Still though, that was not his problem. If the kid was beyond tactless, then it was not his problem to fix. He was just tasked with making sure that he got to the capital safely, and now that his mission has been fulfilled, he could hightail it back home or he could just walk slowly and enjoy his Icha Icha.

"I do…this is-" Kakashi's introduction was interrupted by Yoruichi.

"The sexy, gorgeous bombshell that is Shihōin Yoruichi!" Yoruichi said this while striking up a sexy pose. Well at least to her and Kakashi it was sexy, to Naruto it was just plain stupid.

"Huh?" the blonde said, looking very confused for a second, before he said, "That was a bit of a mouthful. You know what, I'm just gonna call you Cat-lady since your eyes remind me of a cat."

Kakashi, if he was not the cool person that he was, would have fallen flat on his head at that declaration. Did this kid not realise that he was talking to a clan head? Just as quickly as Kakashi found it impossible that Naruto would not realise this, he remembered that this was a kid that wanted to be Hokage, but did not know the names of the first two Hokage to rule over Konoha.

Kakashi just prayed that Yoruichi did not take any offense to what Naruto said. He would seriously hate to have a simple mission ruined by Naruto's incompetence.

"Hahahahahahahaha…" It seemed as though whatever deity Kakashi prayed to answered his prayer in good fortune, because Yoruichi was having a good, heartfelt laugh if her holding onto her stomach with her left hand while her right hand clasped the gate was to go by, "…hahaha, I…haha…like this kid…hahahah…already…hahahahahaha."

Yoruichi continued to laugh for close to a minute before she finally composed herself and straightened out and said, "Oh, that was good, kid. Anyway, I'm tired of standing here, so…kai."

The gate Yoruichi was holding on to barely a minute ago swung open and allowed Naruto to step forward, with Kakashi behind him. When said man tried to follow his young charge, Yoruichi quickly held up her hand and said, "Uh-uh, this is as far as you can go, Kakashi-san. Just hand me all of the required documentation and then you can leave. The boy is in my care now."

"What?" Naruto said in shock and confusion.

Yoruichi saw this and looked at Kakashi and asked, "Didn't you explain the situation to the boy?"

Kakashi looked a bit sheepish, before he shrugged his shoulder and said, "Meh, must have slipped my mind."

He had been tasked with explaining the situation to Naruto while they travelled, but he forgot to do so.

Yoruichi felt like palming her own face, or better yet Kakashi's, but the last option was out due to said action causing a rift between her clan and Konoha, while the first would have been too painful to her to do. She settled for simply turning her attention back to the confused boy and saying, "Your Hokage sent you to train with-"

"-with samurai. So why am I being ushered into your clan's grounds instead of being with other samurai?" Naruto rudely interrupted.

Yoruichi felt a tick mark appearing on her head, but she supressed it and simply chose to reply to Naruto's query, "Your Hokage sent you to train with Samurai, but that's it. He did not send you here to live with us forever or something. And as for the reason why you're being dropped into my clan's care…well the Sandaime wanted you to get some semblance of shinobi training as well during your tenure here…and that's why you've been brought here. My clan is the only samurai clan that is allowed to dabble in the shinobi arts…to some extent…because it is a clan that was created by a of union a samurai clan and a shinobi clan from long ago."

Naruto looked at Yoruichi with understanding appearing on his features. He nodded his head in agreement to what Yoruichi said, indicating his understanding. Seeing that Naruto understood her, Yoruichi turned her attention back to Kakashi. She held out her right hand, and it soon found itself full with a scroll Kakashi has fished out of his pocket.

"That scroll contains the permit he'll have to use for his stay here in the capital." Kakashi stated.

Yoruichi nodded her head in understanding.

"Well, now that I've dropped him into your lap, Yoruichi-dono, I'm out." Kakashi said, before disappearing in a puff of white smoke which lasted a second. When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

"Shunshin, huh?" Yoruichi said to herself, "Doesn't pack the punch that Shunpo does."

"What?" Naruto asked Yoruichi, not getting what she was talking about.

"Nothing, Naruto, nothing." Yoruichi said while she watched the gates close, and when they were done she turned around and simply walked towards the cluster of buildings Naruto had seen earlier, with said blonde in tow.

Naruto was lead to a building that looked like it was some sort of mini hotel once you walked inside. There were people that opened the door for them, while others bowed to them as they walked by. Naruto and Yoruichi walked in silence, with Naruto silently observing his surroundings, while Yoruichi thought about the upcoming task her clan had to perform.

Her clan had been ordered by the Daimyo to take in the boy after the Soutaicho and the Sandaime Hokage had struck a deal that would allow for the boy to learn how to be a samurai. She was informed that Naruto had to try out being a samurai for as long as it took for him to get the training and experience necessary to be able to be of service to Konoha, before being shipped off back to the village. She was also informed of the boy's Jinchuriki status, so that meant that whatever training Yoruichi had in mind, she should always take that little fact into consideration before administrating her training.

"Hey," Yoruichi's thoughts were interrupted by Naruto, "um, where are you taking me?"

"Your room…" Yoruichi said, before a smirk made its way onto her face and she added, "you should feel honoured that the great Yoruichi-sama is giving you a tour of the place."

Naruto looked at her like she had grown a second head and said, "Wait, don't tours involve the guide telling the tourist things about the place…and there's no way in hell I'm calling you Yoruichi-sama, Cat-lady, you aren't the boss of me."

Naruto finished his declaration by pointing his right thumb backwards into his own chest.

Yoruichi stuck her tongue out of her mouth in a teasing gesture and said, in a teasing tone, "Technically, I am your boss…and as your boss I order you to call me Yoruichi-sama."

Naruto shook his head from side to side and folded his arms across his chest stubbornly, refusing to say that. He would rather die than give someone the pleasure of hearing the word 'sama' roll out of his mouth.

"Stubborn brat." Yoruichi said.

"Stupid Cat-lady." Naruto returned.

They both stopped and looked at each other before sticking their tongues out simultaneously, before turning around at the same time and slapping their own behinds in the other's direction. They did this for several seconds before a voice interrupted them, "You dare?!"

Before Naruto even knew what was going on he was suddenly tackled to the ground by someone and quickly straddled, before his neck felt cold steel graze it. Naruto's brain took a second to reboot after the quick takedown, but when it did, he saw that he was being pinned down by a girl that looked no older than he did. She was petite, black haired and very scary, especially scary since holding a wakizashi to Naruto's throat.

"Uh…hi…" Naruto said lamely, looking up at the girl straddling him. The intensity in her eyes was something only seen in raging forest fires.

"You dare?" the girl asked through grit teeth, "You dare show such disrespectful behaviour towards Yoruichi-sama?!"

Naruto felt the blade nick him a little and he felt sweat pouring out of every pore in his body. This girl was scary.

"Heh-heh…" Naruto tried to speak, but could only utter a nervous laugh.

"You will pay for your insolence!" the girl said, seemingly getting angrier by the second.

"Um, sorry." Naruto offered lamely, he was really starting to feel like he wanted to pee in his pants…again.

"Not good enough." The girl said quietly, before she slashed her blade across Naruto's throat, but instead of getting a blood river, she instead got a 'pop' sound that was accompanied by lots of smoke. It became clear to the girl when she lost her 'seat' and fell to the ground on her knees that Naruto was no longer underneath her.

She looked left and right, but saw nothing, but then as she was about to look back she heard a chilling voice whisper in her ear, "You should never let someone get behind you…"

The girl then felt something…unexplainable. She felt something pierce her rectum, before Naruto's voice said, "Konoha Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi (Konoha Hidden Taijutsu: One Thousand Years of Death)."

What followed next was the most embarrassing moment of the girl's life. She looked back a little and saw Yoruichi covering her mouth with both hands while her cheeks were puffed up and red and she had tears in her eyes. She turned her head back some more and saw Naruto crouching down behind her with his arms stretched out towards her backside.

Understanding dawned on her face as she realised what had pierced her rectum.

"KYAAAAAAH!" The girl screamed as she leaped to the ceiling, covering her behind with her hands.

That seemed to be the last straw as both Naruto and Yoruichi fell to the floor in laughter, holding onto their stomachs as tears welled up in their eyes and cascaded down their cheeks almost instantly.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" their unified laughter rang throughout the mansion.

The girl looked like she was about to cry from embarrassment, especially since Yoruichi was laughing the ever living day lights out of her.

"OH MY WORD- HAHAHAHAH- THAT'S- THAT'S HAHAHA- GOLD!" Yoruichi said as she could not control her own laughter. She felt like she was a burst dam that was gushing water everywhere as her laughter was contagious. She looked to her side and saw Naruto laughing so hard that it looked like he was running out of air. Looking at the girl though, Yoruichi saw something that made her worried, even though she was laughing.

Hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred. This was hatred that was being directed at Naruto.

Before Naruto even knew what was going on, he suddenly found himself on the ground, with the girl he'd just embarrassed the heck out of about to stab him. Just as the wakizashi descended on the blonde boy, a hand gripped it and stopped its descent. That hand came courtesy of Shihōin Yoruichi.

"What do you think you're doing, Soi-Fēng?

"Yoruichi-sama?" Sui-Fēng said in perplexity. Why was her beloved master not allowing her to end the existence of this fool that shamed her?

"I want you to never, ever try to kill Naruto…ever!" Yoruichi said.

"But why? He's rude, brash, ill-mannered and-"

"-and he's been left in my care! So that means that anyone, and I mean anyone, that tries to kill him will have to go through me." Yoruichi said with finality. Yoruichi honestly did not care about Naruto to die for him, but her clan had been tasked by the Daimyo to look after Konoha's Jinchuriki, so that put a lot of pressure on her. If Naruto died while under her watch, it would have extreme ramifications on her and her clan.

Soi-Fēng seeing that there was nothing she could do anymore about the current situation simply hung her head in resignation. She stood up and turned to bow at Yoruichi, "I understand, Yoruichi-sama…I'm sorry."

With that, the thirteen year old girl left.

"You!" Yoruichi said, grabbing Naruto's attention. He had spaced out after hearing Yoruichi's declaration about her killing anyone that tried to harm him. He felt something well up inside him. He just could not place a finger the exact feeling. That was something to dwell on later, though. Right now he had to focus on what was happening in front of him.

"What is it, Cat-lady?"

"Get off my floor. We're headed for your room."

Okay, that sounded cold to Naruto. What did he do to her to suddenly make her go from someone that he was laughing at a cool prank with to this cold woman that was talking to him like he was worthless?

Quickly getting up off the floor, Naruto followed Yoruichi as she led him down the rest of the passage, where they passed closed doors that were on either side of them until they got to what Naruto thought was like the twenty fifth door to the left. Yoruichi pushed the door open and walked in, with Naruto following suit right after.

"This is your room."

Again with the coldness.

"Um, thanks…I guess."

"Sure. Whatever." Yoruichi said as she left the room, "Knock yourself out."

Once Yoruichi had closed the door behind her, Naruto took to inspecting the room from top to bottom. The room was a whole lot bigger than his apartment back in Konoha. It had a king sized bed at the centre, backed into the wall of course, and it looked like you could fit in fifty more king sized beds in it. And you would still have enough space to move about.

The floor was mostly wooden, with a simple yet elegant closet at the far end that would house his clothes.

All in all, Naruto was beyond impressed with the room. He thought that the clans of Konoha lived large…wait 'til they met the Shihōin clan of capital.

Naruto's musings were brought to a halt when there was a knock at his bedroom door. He quickly reached for it and opened it. He was greeted by the site of Soi-Fēng staring at him in hatred, something which would bother a lot of people, except him of course. He was practically born and bred to be hated, so it did not really affect him much.

"Can I help you?" Naruto said.

"Training. 4 a.m. tomorrow with Yoruichi-sama." with that said, Soi-Fēng made her leave before Naruto could say anything else.

"Okay…" Naruto quickly closed the door and decided to continue his inspection of his room. He could deal with Soi-Fēng and Yoruichi, along with her mood swings- which may or may not be a common trait for the woman, tomorrow. Right now, he had a bed to break in.

* * *

 **This is a story I wrote up months ago, but did not really finish. I came across it the other day and decided to just post it as it is. As always, like and review and the whole shebang.**

 **This is TTC signing out.**

 **I'm out!**


	2. Chapter 2: Naruto's Ingenuity

CHAPTER TWO: Naruto's Ingenuity and Stupidity

In life, people teach you a lot of things about how to approach it. How to approach certain situations and what to do when you come across them. As much as people wish it, there are some things that just cannot be taught, that you just have to learn on your own so that you can come up with your own conclusions and solutions for those problems. Naruto was finding out about that second fact about life right now.

He was currently down on the ground, eating dirt, while Soi-fēng stood over him, watching him with cold, uncaring eyes. The lesson that Naruto was learning right now that no one could have ever taught him? Well that's easy, it's that you do not- and let it be reiterated- DO NOT humiliate a woman, because when they exact vengeance, they exact it _hard_.

This, at least according to him, was supposed to be a simple spar. They were supposed to get a feel of each other's strength, all under the watchful eye of Yoruichi, within the confines of the Shihōin clan's living quarters.

Suffice to say that all of these supposed security measures weren't able to stop Naruto from getting hurt.

"Get up, Naruto. Training ain't over yet...we're only just beginning." said the voice of Yoruichi from the sidelines.

Naruto slowly pulled himself to his feet, and slowly turned to face Soi-fēng. His extremely bruised face was seen by the two females, and he was panting heavily while raising his fists in preparation for another assault from the lithe female that was currently handing him his ass.

"L-let's-" Naruto did not even get to finish his sentence as he soon found himself under the assault of an extremely furious teenage girl that was many times more skilled than he was. Every punch she threw was thrown with precision, and always somehow found its mark, despite Naruto seeing where it was headed and thinking he had put up a block to prevent himself from getting hit.

The sad part about this entire exchange was that no matter what Naruto did, nothing seemed to even touch Soi-fēng, whether it be a punch or a kick. He also noticed that Soi-fēng was breathing normally, despite them having been at this for close to an hour. She did not even have a drop of sweat on her face.

Unfortunately for Naruto, the same could not be said for him. He was her total opposite, breathing hard and sweating profusely.

'Damn it... I really wished I hadn't pulled that whole _Thousand years of death_ crap on her.' Naruto really regretted doing what he did. If someone had warned him before about the dangers of pissing off Soi-fēng, then maybe he would have kept himself in check.

Naruto threw a right hook that was parried with ease to the side, before a debilitating blow was sent to the side of his neck, causing him to lose his balance and stumble to the side. He felt his vision blur for a second, before it was restored. His vision cleared a second too late for him because it was filled by Soi-fēng's fist, which was weird considering that she was so much smaller than him.

"Stop!" Yoruichi's voice commanded with finality from the sidelines, stopping Soi-fēng's fist millimetres from connecting with Naruto's face.

'Oh, thank whatever deity that exists!' Naruto thought to himself. Seriously, where did such a lethal girl come from. Last time he checked, girls weren't this tough.

Yoruichi approached the duo from the tree she had been leaning against while watching the massively one-sided beat down. She approached them in a slow gait. Soi-fēng, meanwhile, retracted her fist while Naruto audibly sighed out loud for them all to hear as he struggled to get some precious oxygen into his body.

"Why are you sighing out loud?" Yoruichi asked the blonde boy. Seriously, was he supposed to be a ninja?

Naruto was about to answer with the words, "I'm sighing because it's all over", but Yoruichi was quick to add on to her question by saying, "Don't tell me that you think that it's over?"

"No ma'am." He responded quickly before catching some more oxygen.

"Good...because that's only the beginning." Yoruichi said with a small amused smile on her face.

"Wait, what?!" Naruto spurted out of his mouth before he even realised what he had said.

Yoruichi smirked some more at that. She absolutely loved torturing people whenever she could, in any way that she could. Too bad for Naruto that he was the focus of her attention right now. Her predatory smirk scared him, but that was nothing compared to the shock he received when she told him the truth of their spar, "Don't tell me that a measly ten minutes was all it took to run you dry, Naruto?"

Naruto had a confused look on his face as he asked, "Ten minutes? Cat-lady, we fought for like an hour at least."

He looked over at Soi-fēng, looking for someone to back up his claim, after all, she had been fighting him,"Right?"

Soi-fēng was the last person to ask for help in this type of situation because of the simple fact that she hated his guts.

"Hn, you wouldn't have lasted an hour with me even if you tried, blondie." Soi-fēng said cockily, before adding, "But what my shisho says is true, we've only been sparring for ten minutes."

"B-but...that's-" Naruto just could not believe that he had received such an ass kicking, which felt like it happened for an hour, in just ten minutes.

"Naruto, let me ask you something." Yoruichi began as she folded her arms under her ample breasts, "Have you ever noticed that time seems to fly by pretty fast whenever you're having fun?"

"Yes." C'mon, did Cat-lady think him to be _that_ retarded that he didn't know the proverb about time flying whenever you're having fun? Damn, he must have given off a really shitty impression then.

"What about when you are bored?" Yoruichi added.

"It's slow." he answered again, feeling a bit... uneasy about where the conversation was headed.

"Right on...well, the same rules apply to combat. When you are the dominant person in a fight, the fight seems relatively quick and easy. When you're the underdog, well...that's a completely different story." Yoruichi said.

"You perceive time at a slower rate than everyone else." Naruto said, summarising what he knew his master was going to say to him.

"Precisely. Also, if you were an attentive person you would have noticed that there was a giant clock behind you," Yoruichi's words got Naruto to turn around and sure enough there was a golden clock situated behind the main building, how he had missed it before was a mystery to him, "which would have allowed you to keep track of the fight's time."

"How do you keep track of time in a fight?" Naruto asked. He may not have been a book smart individual, but he sure was street smart. Anyone that had two street cells in their brain could tell you that you _do not_ try to keep track of time in a fight.

"You don't... that will lead to your death." Yoruichi responded.

"I see..." was all Naruto said. Honestly, he felt like face-faulting at that precise moment. This woman thought she was teaching him shit he did not know, when it was actually the total opposite. He knew time seemed slower whenever you're getting a beating. He ought to know since he got those a lot back at the academy.

"Do you know what will lead to your death right now?" Yoruichi said with a playful smirk on her face. Honestly she could read the kid like a open book. She could tell that the questions were annoying the shit out of him, and she did not care. As mentioned before, she rejoiced in other people's misery.

"N-no." was a reply she received. She felt giddy on the inside because of what she was about to say next.

"Not giving me another twenty laps around the compound, at top speed all the way!"

"Wha-" before Naruto could complete his sentence, he suddenly felt as if he was flying. The next thing he knew, his face burned up slightly on his right cheek. He then crashed onto the ground, not realising what was happening.

When Naruto got back onto his feet, he found Yoruichi standing above him, with them being nearly twenty feet from where they once were.

"Get off your ass and gimme twenty laps, or else they'll be more from where that came from." Yoruichi's words were spoken with a hint of darkness to them, further driving in her threat.

Quicker than he knew how to, he was already running his first lap around the compound, all the while he contemplated what the heck had just happened. Yoruichi hit him so fast that not even his nervous system was able to keep up with the pain. The stinging sensation of the hit came a second after it had landed. How in the world is it possible for someone to be so strong without even trying?

Yoruichi, meanwhile, continued studying him, looking to see what else was wrong with the boy. She could tell from this hand to hand combat training that he had a long way to go in that regard. She had been under the impression that shinobi were trained in proper basic combat from an early age...her clan certainly practised that. So why in the world was Naruto's stance so wrong? She hoped it was not because of the whole Jinchuriki thing. She had heard about how shinobi villages can be cruel towards their Jinchuriki.

"Yoruichi-sama." Soi-fēng said from the side.

"Hai, Soi-fēng." Yoruichi replied while keeping her eyes on her other student.

Soi-fēng was quiet for a few seconds, unsure of how to ask the question that she wanted answered. She thought of just jumping off the bridge, so to speak, but that might cause Yoruichi-sama to hate her. She could not have that happen to her. Yoruichi-sama was everything to her. She could not lose the woman. She became scared and thought about quickly covering up her question with a lie about it being nothing...

"Speak up, Soi-fēng... and don't tell me it's nothing because I can see from the few seconds of hesitation that it's actually something."

… before that happened.

"Why did you agree to the request to train him? What makes him so special?" Soi-fēng asked, deciding to just jump off the bridge in the end.

"You want to know why I'm training him?" Yoruichi asked the girl, keeping her eyes glued on Naruto, who was still tearing around the compound at his full speed, while also keeping her facial expression unreadable.

Soi-fēng was not someone that was pretentious, at least as far as she knew she wasn't. She was of a special breed, she could fight opponents twice her age with ease. That was why she was under the direct tutelage of Shihōin Yoruichi. She desperately wanted to know why Yoruichi was wasting her time training someone so... insignificant. He sucked in hand to hand combat. His reactions were slow, and above all else he was annoying.

"Hai." Soi-fēng's reply was curt.

"Well, defeat me in battle first, and then I will tell you." Yoruichi said as she continued to watch Naruto run laps around the compound. She had to admit, he had good stamina. He was still going at the speed he started with and he was three laps in.

Soi-fēng tried to piece together a reply, but failed miserably, "D-defeat Yo-Yoruichi-sama?"

Yoruichi just turned and looked back at the girl with a smirk on her face. A smirk that was meant as a challenge to the girl. There were some things that she saw in Naruto that Soi-fēng probably did not. Like the fact that Naruto was an kinaesthetic learner. He learned through trial and error more than theory.

She could see the amount of raw potential he had in him, and she was going to cultivate it. Despite the fact that she was supposed to just teach him a few things, Yoruichi wanted to see where Naruto's potential ended. Which is why she was going to teach him everything she could, and see where he broke. She just hoped he was made of tough stuff.

* * *

Konohagakure no Sato

Sarutobi Hiruzen was currently looking over the entire village he had sworn to protect, ever since he was a young man, from the top of the Hokage tower. He looked at the beauty of the village, scrutinising everything about it, from the buildings that people resided in, to the shops they sold stuff out of, to the very people themselves. He watched all of this with great fascination, fascinated by how the village could still take away his breath even after all of this time. He allowed his mind to wonder if this was how the village would look ten years from now, when Naruto possibly took over the show.

"Naruto..." he felt the boy's name leaving his lips along with the sigh he unintentionally released alongside the boy's name. He silently wondered if the action that he took was the best one for the boy. He failed to graduate from the academy, he lost a very important person in his life, and he had no real future outside of being a shinobi. His jinchuriki status pretty much made sure of that. There was no way he could have survived a normal life. The training with the samurai was the next best thing.

The Shihōin clan was the closest thing he could get to shinobi that were not really shinobi. He hoped that whatever they taught him could stick, because his academy teachings surely did not.

So why does his heart feel so heavy knowing that Naruto would never be able to truly be a shinobi?

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice that he knew all too well speaking his name from the side, "Hiruzen."

"Danzō." Hiruzen replied without turning to face the man as he stepped out of the shadows and slowly approached him. Great, period of relaxation ruined.

"So, is it true?" Danzō said once they were side to side.

Hiruzen knew what Danzō was asking about, but he decided to pretend that he had no idea about it, "What are you talking about, old friend?"

"The boy," Danzō answered agitatedly, "you sent him to the samurai."

"If you knew the answer, then why ask me if it was true?" Hiruzen teased. Honestly, sometimes messing with Danzō could be easy.

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you sent Konoha's _weapon_ to be trained by the enemy." Danzō spoke in return.

"First of all, the boy has a name. I suggest you use it!" Hiruzen declared with finality, "And secondly, since when did people you share a nation with suddenly become enemies?"

"If they can upset an established order and create techniques strong enough to challenge our own, then they are." Danzō said, "When people that did not have power suddenly gain it, there's a possibility that they could cause a civil war."

And there went the easiness of conversing with Danzō.

"Why are you so paranoid, huh?" Hiruzen asked, "Why are you so adamant that the samurai we share national borders with could actually try to usurp us?"

Danzō said nothing. For him, there was nothing to be said. Hiruzen must be blind to believe that two super powers could peacefully exist within one border. Things like that do not happen at all. So in all likelihood, war was going to break out soon enough.

"Is it fear, old friend?" Hiruzen asked another question, before he added, "Just so you know, they have had these techniques of theirs for the last one hundred years."

"I know that... but they weren't living so close to the Daimyo back then. They .were like us before the system of the Hidden Villages came into play. Warring against each other. Now, they have pretty much replaced us as the main power that the Daimyo has at his disposal." Danzō said.

"And you fear that it will make us fall out of favour with the man?" Hiruzen asked rhetorically.

"Hai." a simple answer from the supposed Shinobi no Yami.

Hiruzen understood the man's fear. The samurai may have had this extraordinary power longer than either of them had been alive, but they had been living as recluses. They had not been living as ronin for a really long time. It was the third war that changed everything.

"I hate to admit this to you old friend, but we have long since fallen out of favour with the Daimyo." Hiruzen knew he was stating the obvious to Danzō. After all, the man was there during the third war.

"So again I'll ask you, Hiruzen... why did you send the boy to them?"

"Call me naïve, if you will... but I believe Naruto is the key to getting back in favour with our Daimyo." Hiruzen stated.

He could tell that Danzō thought him foolish. Entrusting the balance of the Ninja world on a twelve year old that could not even graduate was pretty dumb, now that he thought about it. It was the thought of one of his students that reinforced his decision for him. The man was also really dumb at that age, and yet he grew up to be a powerful and wise leader.

* * *

Shihōin Clan training grounds – sometime later

Naruto could barely stand on his feet as he held onto a piece of wood with both of his hands.

"Let go of that stick and you're dead!" Yoruichi had threatened him. Oh, the joy she felt when she saw the look of terror that appeared in his eyes for a second, before it disappeared.

He was supposed to be training in the art that samurai prided themselves in the most...the art of the sword.

"Soi-fēng, attack him again." Yoruichi commanded from the sidelines.

"Hai!" Soi-fēng said. She was on Naruto in a flash, hacking away at him with a kendo stick. He barely survived the lethal wood's attacks by parrying it away with his own.

Yoruichi watched her male student with interested eyes. It did not take him long to acclimatise to things that were of a physical nature, just so long as they were repeated over and over and over and over again to him.

'The report from Konoha's Shinobi Academy was quite inaccurate.' Yoruichi's voice resonated in her head, 'It said that he had physical skills that were sub par...and while they were right about that, they were talking from the perspective of someone that learned a strict fighting style. Naruto is like the wind...'

Yoruichi watched the blonde boy read through Soi-fēng's attack like it was an open book, and he tried to counter the overextended strike from the petite girl by ducking under and trying to take out her legs. Soi-fēng's natural agility allowed her to bypass his counter by jumping onto Naruto's stick, and then performing a back flip while also kicking Naruto's chin, thus pushing him back.

'… He is free flowing … although Soi-fēng's clearly stronger than him, the longer they fight, the more he adjusts to her speed, power and skill.'

Naruto got up from the ground and spat out some blood from his mouth while also shifting his jaw back into place. At least, that's what he thought he was doing. He saw it in a movie once. It made the guy that was getting an ass kicking look badass.

Naruto twirled the kendo stick in his hand for a second, before he placed it in front of his body, with the tip facing down.

Yoruichi's eyes widened at this action, 'He's already figured out the correct defensive stance to tackle someone like Soi-fēng? How?'

Soi-fēng's eyes also widened when he performed this stance, and her mind raced at the speed of light to try and figure out how he knew the correct stance without extensive training, 'How did he know how to correct his stance? Is it instinct?'

"Heh, what's wrong, Soi-fēng?" Naruto's voice taunted, snapping the girl out of her thoughts, "Can't handle me any more?"

Soi-fēng's visage contorted into a deep scowl at his words, and a bit of sweat rolled down the back of her neck.

Yoruichi's face had a smirk appear on it after the taunt, and seeing Soi-fēng's response to it, 'This his only his first day of training, but he's already making someone like Soi-fēng sweat a bit. He's no genius when it comes to combat... but he is tenacious, and I'd pick that over genius any day of the week.'

The kendo spar would continue for a few hours, with one thing having been made abundantly clear by all of this. Naruto may not be someone with natural gifts when it came to combat, but reading it was second nature to him. That's scary considering that he had not had that much training.

* * *

One week later

"I hate you."

"What was that?"

"I REALLY HATE YOU!"

"Hate me all you want, but it won't change a thing." Yoruichi said with a proud smirk on her face.

Why the proud smirk?

Naruto was currently sitting in front of her, on a pile of sharp nails, with a twenty kilogram book on his head. Oh, he was also in a lot of pain … hence the proud smirk.

'Who the fuck makes a book that's twenty kilos?' Naruto thought as he fought back the pain of the nails digging into his skin, making it harder and harder for him to sit still. The darn book that was on his head was pushing him further into the darn nails.

Naruto was really hating his decision right now. He wished he had stayed back in Konoha and lived out his days as a civilian. After his first day of training, things had only gone worse from there. He now found himself constantly being put through more pain than before. He was electrocuted, poisoned in the most painful ways and now he was sitting on upturned nails that were slowly drilling into his skin.

"What will sitting on nails help me accomplish besides what you said earlier?" Naruto asked rhetorically. According to Yoruichi's pre-training explanation, this was to help him improve his abysmal chakra control. How? By creating a thin layer of chakra between his skin and the bed of nails, he could create a chakra sheet that would be strong enough to keep him above the nails. The problem was that he needed to be able to create a sheet over each individual nail, and not under his entire body, like he was currently doing, hence why the nails were slowly digging into him.

"Oh, that's easy to understand." Yoruichi said, "Before you can know how to dish out hits, you gotta know how to take them."

"What does poisoning me have to do with taking a hit?!"

"Oh, that's also easy. You won't face opponents that use their physical strength only. You will also face people that use poisons. So it's best your body develops an immunity for them as soon as possible. Also on the topic of the nails, they're to help you understand the pain that comes from getting stabbed by a really sharp blade."

"Rrr...what about the darn electrocution?" Naruto was becoming really agitated by all of her responses. They made a whole lot of sense, but that did not mean he had to like it.

"Oh...well that was just for fun." Yoruichi's face had a full blown smirk on it.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

Some Gai

Some Gai was a small town that existed close to the borders that separated Hi no Kuni and Takigakure. It was mainly a farming village, used mainly by farmers that wanted to try and get as much money out of farming by dealing with two different countries at the same time. The idea was simple in nature. All they would do is supply to Ta no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. The problem was that both nations tended to have scuffles either nearby, or directly in the farming village.

This resulted in the place staying small, despite the large profits it churns out. Many people feared relocating to this village because of the danger level that existed within it. Who would want to live in a place that was suddenly peaceful in one moment, and a war zone in the next.

It was kind of like a Hidden Village... a very weak-ass hidden village.

A man strode into this village with an accomplice by his side. The man had a slow gait, not really rushing to wherever it is that he was going. The man walked calmly as he and his accomplice took in their surroundings, observing the small populace of people who went about their business, trying their best to ignore the two people that had just entered their town.

The man, who had brown hair and wore a pair of glasses, wore a black Shihakushō under a white haori that had a diamond on the back, with the number five etched at the diamond's centre in black, and a pair of socks with straw sandals over them.

The accomplice was a little boy that looked to be around the age of thirteen, and he had a perpetual grin on his face. His face also sported closed eyelids that made him look a bit creepy when combined with his smile. Like the man he was with, the boy wore a black Shihakushō, but he did not have a haori, but he did have strew sandals like the man he was accompanying.

"What do you think, Gin?" the man said to his accomplice.

"I don' know wha' ya expec' me ta say, Aizen-taichō? It's a shit hole." the boy next to Aizen answered truthfully.

Aizen just kept quiet at the boy's comment, choosing not to say anything. They continued moving to the centre of the small town, which wasn't very far really. It was just a few hundred meters from the village's only entrance and exit.

Once they reached the center, Aizen turned around and looked at town's populace, who were trying their damnedest to avoid looking at him or Gin.

"Your answer means that this place is perfect." Aizen said to Gin.

"Perfect for wha'?" Gin asked the man.

"Revolution."

* * *

Two hours later – Shihōin Residence

"Ow...my skin hurts." Naruto whined. He and Yoruichi had ended another day of training, and they were currently walking through the mansion of the Shihōin clan.

"Quit whining you big baby." Yoruichi chided.

"Cat-lady, your training is gonna kill me before any enemy does."

"Oh, how so?" Yoruichi's smirking face asked the boy.

"I'm fucking bleeding everywhere!" Naruto shouted. True to his words, Naruto was bleeding everywhere. He had multiple holes all over his body, and the blood coming out of them was making his jumpsuit turn maroon.

"Oh my … you're right?" Yoruichi said comically.

"You only noticed now?!" Naruto asked incredulously.

"... maybe." Yoruichi said with a small blush on her. A second later the blush was gone as she called out, "Soi-fēng!"

A second later Soi-fēng appeared in front of Yoruichi, kneeling on one knee.

"Hai, Yoruichi-sama."

"Take the gaki to Kisuke." Yoruichi ordered.

"What?!" Yoruichi's subordinate look up in shock.

"You heard me. Take him to Kisuke, now. I don't want him bleeding out on us." Yoruichi said.

"H-hai." Soi-fēng's tone was filled with resignation.

"Wait, where is she taking me?" Naruto asked, feeling confused.

"To a friend of mine that will patch you up." said Yoruichi, "Now go."

"Come one." was all Soi-fēng said.

Naruto followed the girl out of the mansion and out of the compound. This was actually Naruto's first time out of the Shihōin grounds ever since he had come here. All he had been doing for the past week was get tor- training, eat and sleep. Seeing the other side of the giant walls that surrounded the Shihōin family was a welcome refreshment.

Naruto looked at all the trees that were on the path that they took, and being the person that he was he quickly found them to be boring as fuck. What was so nice about looking at overgrown fauna?

"Hey, Soi-fēng … " Naruto decided to try and strike up a conversation with the girl that hated his guts.

No response.

"Hey, Soi-fēng."

Again, no response.

" _Soi-fēng …_ " Naruto spoke her name in a sing-song manner.

"Ugh … what is it?" she finally gave in to his attempts to start up a conversation.

"How long have you been with Cat-lady?" Naruto asked innocently.

Soi-fēng felt the urge to correct him on the way he addressed Yoruichi-sama, but she quickly remembered that he was probably dying from the blood loss, and as such they had to hurry up, so the argument that she knew he was going to start was going to delay them.

"For as long as I can remember."

"And how long is that?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does."

Soi-fēng honestly wanted to throat punch him into oblivion because of his irritating questions. Kami, whoever gave birth to Naruto must want a refund for their bad luck in the baby lottery. His recent statement only reaffirmed her beliefs on the blonde haired boy.

"Ugh, fine. Since I was eight. There, are you happy now?" Maybe he'd shut up now.

"Not really … "

'The gods hate me.' Soi-fēng's thoughts were followed by internal tears of sorry.

Soi-fēng wanted to ask why her statement did not answer his query, since it was straight forward, but stopped herself from doing so out of her own resentment for the boy walking behind her.

"I mean that would mean that you began this hellish training from such a young age." Naruto said to her.

Soi-fēng's body froze momentarily at the mention of the training, but she quickly picked up her pace once again.

"I didn't go through the same training you're going through." Soi-fēng said. Was that bitterness in her tone?

"Huh? Then why the hell am I being put through hell?!"

"I don't know and I don't care. If you stop asking questions, we can hurry up and get you the help you need before you dry out."

* * *

Central Plaza of Hi no Kuni

Naruto and Soi-fēng had travelled for a little over ten minutes together, and they were now at the Central Shopping District of Hi no Kuni. The place was lively as always, with people coming and going with shopping bags and what have you. Along the way Naruto saw a few samurai dressed in red armour, but he also came across a purple haired dude with colourful right eyelashes. Naruto could tell that he was also a samurai. The thing that made this guy stand out from the other samurai was that he was wearing a black Shihakushō.

Soi-fēng was the one that told him the name of the garment. When he asked her why this guy wore a different set of clothes from the rest, she simply answered, "He is special."

Naruto continued his sightseeing. Watching the people of the Capital go about doing their thing. He watched how the people interacted with each other, and it brought a smile onto his face.

"This is something worth fighting for." Naruto spoke quietly, but Soi-fēng heard him nonetheless. She chose not to say anything as she silently agreed with him. The only thing she would ever acknowledge agreeing with Naruto on is the beauty of the capital, and the need to preserve said beauty.

While Soi-fēng's thoughts raced like horses in her mind, something unexpected caught Naruto's attention. Something he had never really taken a strong liking to before … music. It was not just any music though, it sounded like that type of music where the beat was flat and repetitive. What was it called again? Oh right, rap.

Naruto quickly took off to the place where the music originated from. When he got there, he bore witness to something totally awesome, in his opinion. There, on a mobile stage, was a group of four men, civilians most probably, and they were spinning on their heads like it was the easiest thing in the world.

For Naruto, someone who was trained in the shinobi arts, it was easy to do so, but seeing someone without any combat training pull this off completely blew his mind. He watched as the men stopped spinning like tops and got back onto their feet, stylishly of course, before they started criss-crossing their legs while moving back and forth to the sound of the beat.

Then, one of the men moved forward and started performing some suped up, yet extremely random-looking dance moves that at first seemed like they had not connection whatsoever, but the more this guy did this, the more he saw the beauty behind it all.

"Whoa... what is that type of dancing called?" Naruto questioned himself.

"It's called break dancing." Soi-fēng's voice answered from the side, he did not bother to turn and look in her general direction because he was so enthralled by what was happening on stage.

"It looks awesome." Naruto said in awe.

"It's poor tastes for me really." Soi-fēng said, "I mean what's so nice about watching people spin on their heads like they're a cheap toy?"

Naruto chose not to say anything as he continued to watch the performance. Unfortunately for him, it had to come to a close, and as such Soi-fēng told him to keep moving, and he did. Naruto looked back while he moved forward, looking at the strange men and their strange dance and silently promising himself to learn how to dance like them.

It seemed really interesting.

* * *

Thirty minutes later

"We're here." Soi-fēng's voice caused his thought process to derail. Looking up, Naruto saw that they were in front of a giant man. No, giant does not do this guy's size justice. This man was mountainous. He wore the same Shihakushō as the man that they saw earlier. They were standing in front of what Naruto thought to be a palace. Granted it looked pretty old school, but it was a palace nonetheless, and this mountainous creature that just s happened to look human was standing guard over the place.

"Hey, um, Soi-fēng … what is this place?" Naruto asked.

"This is Seireitei."

" _Court of pure souls_? What's the deal with this place?" Naruto asked.

"It's where the samurai live and train."

"Huh?"

"Jidanbo … do you mind letting us through. We're here to see Urahara Kisuke." Soi-fēng ignored his confusion in favour of looking at the giant that stood before them.

"Oh, Soi-fēng-chan...certainly."

The giant man let them pass, with Naruto feeling the giants scrutinising eyes on him as he walked past him. Upon entering Seireitei, Naruto noticed that the place looked a bit … blank. It had white tiles on the floor that led to, from what Naruto could tell, were the barracks. He and Soi-fēng walked quietly, without the need to utter a word. At least that's what Soi-fēng was hoping would happen. Naruto had other plans though.

"So, what is this place anyway." Soi-fēng wanted to ignore his question, but she knew that doing so would only result in the blonde boy pestering her about the darn place even more, further annoying her greatly. She really wanted him to just drop dead, but if he did that while under her watch, then Yoruichi-sama would never forgive her.

"This place is the meeting ground for all the samurai of Hi no Kuni. It acts as a military base for us." Soi-fēng's reply was straight to the point.

"Oh, cool." Naruto bemused, "But what are we doing in a military base? Shouldn't I be going to a hospital?"

"We are going to see _him_." Soi-fēng's voice reeked of resentment.

"Who's _him_? You said that so cryptically like its someone you hate … or is it someone you love?" Naruto said this while staring at the surroundings, thus he missed the dark glare Soi-fēng sent his way.

She quickly schooled it though, and Soi-fēng's sigh was the only reply Naruto received. He decided he'd pushed his luck enough as it is with the girl, asking her so many questions.

So, no more … for now. Mwahahahahahahaha!

The duo continued their journey in silence once again, heading towards what looked like a building that looked advanced...well more advanced than all of the other buildings that the duo had passed. Those buildings looked like plain houses. The building they were headed towards looked metallic, with smoke rising out of a chimney that was created for it.

After a rather long walk to the darn place, they finally found themselves at its doorstep.

"Uh, Soi-fēng … I think I'm fine now." Naruto said.

"So even an idiot like you can stop blood flow with chakra." Soi-fēng said as she looked him over once more, before she noticed something he was doing, or rather was not doing, "How are you stopping the blood flow if your chakra is not active?"

"Slow it down? How?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"What in the world did they teach you guys at the supposed Shinobi Academy?" Soi-fēng's question was rhetorical in nature, "I mean, don't you know that you can slow down your blood loss through using your chakra as if it were a stop cork on an open wound? Just make it thick enough, and it acts as a cap to stop blood from slipping out of you."

All she received after her explanation was a blank expression from Naruto, showing her that he had no idea what the fuck she was talking about.

"Wait … you don't know any of this for real?" Soi-fēng's shock was evident in her tone and facial expression.

Naruto just nodded his head.

"Then how the hell did you-"

"I heal very quickly … I sometimes forget I can do that." Naruto told her while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

Soi-fēng just looked at him like he had grown a second head as she found herself asking, "Are you retarded?"

"Um … is that a trick question?" Naruto asked in return.

Soi-fēng's head shook from side to side, choosing to just give up on trying to understand the blonde.

"You know, you give blonde's a bad name." Soi-fēng said, before she turned around and started walking back to where they came from.

" … Hey!" Naruto said after a few seconds, finally realising what she was saying.

Soi-fēng chose to ignore his response in favour of saying, "Let's go. Our purpose for coming here is now moot."

Naruto was about to follow her, but a voice stopped them both when they were about to leave, "Now, now Soi-fēng-chan … where do you think your going?"

Both teens whipped their heads around really fast, and they came face to face with a blonde man that sported a shit-eating grin on his face and he wore a black Shihakushō and a white haori over it.

"You!" was all Soi-fēng said as she looked at the man in anger.

"Yes, me." the man said cheerfully as he approached the teens rather quickly. He seemed to have come from the giant advanced building that they had stood in front of a few seconds ago.

"Who the heck are you?" Naruto asked as soon as the man got uncomfortably close to them. He was all up in Naruto's face after all.

"Me … " the man said as he held a hand over his chest, and had a dramatic expression on his face, "I'm Urahara Kisuke!"

 **To be continued**

 **And that's where I leave this chapter folks. Honestly speaking, this chapter is not my best work. I just wanted to use this a a means of setting up future plot points while also trying to explore the relationship that Naruto and Soi-fēng have.**

 **I haven't decided on any pairings yet … and honestly speaking I don't think they'll be one. I don't want a forced romance for this story. I want something genuine and heartfelt.**

 **Any way, I wanna hear your thoughts and feelings about this story … flame me if you wan to. Like Deadpool, I don't give a fuck! Just joking, I have feelings … anyway, hasta la bye-bye.**

 **I'm out!**


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